An article from: La Repubblica
by Gianni Clerici

And Courier jokes with Connors. Seles has won the tournament clearly beating Navratilova. Edberg overcomes Lendl without problems. Today in the final he will find the American. Jimbo was never in the match

NEW YORK. [...] The easy success of Seles had been preceded by a monotonous semifinal between Edberg and Lendl. In thirteen years of honorable professional career, Ivan Lendl had never been fooled. It seems unbelievable that a polite guy like Stefan Edberg conceded himself such a liberty, but the circumstances can help understand him.

The semifinal was heading towards a quick conclusion when, in the second game of the third set, a very weary Lendl was forced to save himself with a circus-like shot, a ball played from the left side of the body making the head of the racket pass behind the back. That stroke, in which Nastase was a master long ago, would not succeed in readmitting Ivan in the match, in the only game where Stefan left him four break-points.

Always very concentrated, stuck on percentages of serve above 60, on very solid winning volleys, Edberg hastened toward the final, the first place in the ATP ranking and a deserved lunch. But the image of that shot by Lendl must have been engraved inside of him if, in the ninth game of the third set, on a ball in the middle of the court, Stefan gave for an instant the impression to step aside, only to perform himself the same unusual as arduous gesture.

Ivan, who has by now rusted reflexes, was so surprised to lose the point. Stefan, usually impeccable, couldn't help showing a smile, that caused a sour joke by Ivan: "A shot like that can be played by everyone".

That would be the only animated moment of a match between a worn-out player and another who is getting better and better match by match. The presence of Lendl in semifinal was already an amazing result. Come to the tournament in good athletic shape, but with little 'sense for the ball', Edberg improved after every round, also thanks to tonic-like opponents.

Since the start of the semifinal we've seen him projected to the net, aggressive and at the same time lucid to continuously vary the depth and even the rotations of approaches. Only one of the oxygenated housewives that watch the lines, had succeeded in stopping his action for an instant, calling him a foot fault that caused the loss of a service in the fourth game of the first set.

Stefan wouldn't waste another round of serve until the 5-1 of the second set, such a comforting position to allow him some distraction. But even in that circumstance Lendl wouldn't be able to rejoin him, showing himself more similar to the victim of Camporese, Caratti and Furlan than to the winner of Edberg in the Australian Open […].

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